By the grace of God, the recent
decision by Cardinal SeÁn Patrick O'Malley could be a turning point in Catholic
history, a collective epiphany on the road to Boston College. He has made it
entirely clear that he will not be attending the university’s annual
commencement, at which Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will be speaking. Boston
College’s decision to invite the Taoiseach was provocative and was supposed to
be so. Frankly, it’s a childish and petty thing to have done but entirely in
character with the modern approach of liberal or even post-Catholic
institutions of higher education. Give a metaphorical finger to those horrible
old grassroots Catholics who still believe in the faith, and to the Magisterium
and episcopacy who insist on making it difficult for teachers from Boston
College or Notre Dame or Georgetown to be invited onto talk shows and to
fashionable dinner parties.

Ireland is in the midst of a
culture war. It is the country that in spite ofperhaps even because
ofoccupation, oppression, starvation, and dispersion, remained true to the
Church. It was the epicenter for English-speaking Catholics and Catholicism,
and Irish Catholics fuelled English and Scottish Catholicism and became the
beating heart of the Church in the United States.

Today the kulturkampf concerns a triumphant secular and modernist government
declaring virtual war on Church prestige and standing, and challenging Catholic
teaching on life, sexuality, and morality. Kenny wants to change Ireland’s
abortion laws. He claims it is a minor reform, but he knows that is not the
case; the legislation is not only in itself a major departure, but will open a
door to a room full of frightful eugenics. If you don’t believe me, read the
editorials and columns from his supporters in the Irish media.

None of us were sure what
Cardinal O’Malley would do. He is an orthodox man, of course, and a fine and
good Catholic priest and bishop, but he had assisted at the funeral mass of
Sen. Ted Kennedy, an individual with a worrying personal record, and an
execrable public one. Kennedy had opposed the Church on most of its moral
teaching around life issues, often leading campaigns to introduce and extend
abortion, same-sex marriage, and other related subjects. O’Malley led a prayer
at the Mass, explaining, “as archbishop of Boston, I considered it appropriate
to represent the Church at this liturgy out of respect for the Senator, his
family, those who attended the Mass and all those who were praying for the
Senator and his family at this difficult time.”

This time, however, the reaction
was fundamentally different.

“Because the Gospel of Life is
the centerpiece of the Church’s social doctrine and because we consider
abortion a crime against humanity, the Catholic Bishops of the United States
have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or
politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies,” the cardinal
wrote. “Recently I learned that the Prime
Minister of Ireland, the Hon. Mr. Enda Kenny, was slated to receive an honorary
degree at Boston College’s graduation this year. I am sure that the invitation
was made in good faith, long before it came to the attention of the leadership
of Boston College that Mr. Kenny is aggressively promoting abortion
legislation. The Irish Bishops have responded to that development by affirming
the Church’s teaching that ‘the deliberate decision to deprive an innocent
human being of life is always morally wrong’ and expressed serious concern that
the proposed legislation ‘represents a dramatic and morally unacceptable change
to Irish law.’ Since the university has not
withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach has not seen fit to decline,
I shall not attend the graduation.”

Bless you, sir, bless you. And
there are myriad Irish Catholics who will thank you too, as they continue to
try to hold the line of the protection of the unborn, the handicapped, and the
elderly. Which leads us to consider how the Church will react to and regard
public figures and politicians who not only ignore Catholic teaching but
aggressively lead others to do the same. Will priests, bishops, archbishops,
Cardinals, and Popes rebuke and correct politicians private and publicly, and
will they make it clear that they will not be given communion, the Eucharist,
the body and blood of Jesus Christ, while they are in a state of profound sin
and have put themselves outside of the Catholic family?

Pope Francis directed the bishops of Argentina to govern the Church
according to a document that makes clear that Holy Communion should be
disallowed to anybody who facilitates abortion, and we can only pray that he
continues to rule thus and make this teaching absolutely clear to the rest of
the Church. It’s vital to emphasize that this is not about punishment or
reprimand; not about scolding, but about saving. It is bad enough for an
individual to support or enable abortion, but for a politician to influence
millions of people and make possible legions of abortions is far, far worse.
The depth of the sin is great, and for a person in such a state of sin to
blithely pretend that they are in a fit position to receive Communion is grotesquely
harmful to their soul. A pope, a bishop, a priest, is acting as a loving
shepherd rather than a stern parent when he explains to a politician the
dangers of such behavior, and tries with counsel, prayer, and love to turn that
legislator aroundfor the politician’s sake, as well the sake of so many
pre-born children.

The time has surely
come for our Church leaders to proclaim Catholic teaching, even at the risk of
political condemnation and social isolation. If, for example, a plumber or taxi
driver explained to a priest just before Communion that he supported abortion
and had worked hard to expand the country’s abortion laws, one would hope and
assume that the priest would refuse him the host, and ask for a private
interview later. Yet a Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi, who have made their support
for abortion and their hard work to expand abortion laws (not to mention
same-sex marriage and other immoral, anti-Catholic measures) are seldom if ever
treated like this, and are even publicly referred to with affection and humor
by some of the Church’s most senior prelates. If it’s preferential treatment
for the rich and famous, shame on them; if it’s discrimination favoring the
powerful, shame on them; if it’s cowardice in the face of a strong foe, shame
on them.

I appreciate how
challenging all this can be, and how abusive and acid the media will become.
But if the Gosnell trial showed us anything it was how brutal, bloody, and of
Beelzebub abortion really is. At its most simple, the chattering classes and
the establishment will never accept a cardinal or a bishop until and unless
that cardinal or bishop abandons all that is sharp and clear within Catholic
teaching, so better to come to terms with that painful reality sooner rather
than later.

Some Irish eyes will
not be smiling at Cardinal O’Malley’s announcement, but there will be dancing a
plenty in the Irish section of heaven.

About the Author

Michael Coren

Michael Coren is the host of The Arena, a nightly television show broadcast on the Canadian network Sun News, and a columnist whose work appears in numerous publications across Canada. He is the author of 16 books, the most recent of which is Hatred: Islam’s War on Christianity (Signal Books/Random House). His website is www.michaelcoren.com, where his books can be purchased and he can be booked for speeches.

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